The blog contains articles by the author which appear in various newspapers in Kashmir and are also available on the website: www.kashmirfirst.com

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Kashmir in Historical Perspective

(To
elaborate the political nature of Kashmir problem, one needs to examine the
historical perspective of the land and its people)

Recently Kashmir’s Finance Minister lost his job for
saying that Kashmir is not a political problem. Apart from that he had
denigrated the political leadership of Kashmir standing for its total freedom.
He had stated that they were barking up a wrong tree!A fellow columnist has shown him his place in
his recent article, “Idioms of Hubris”. It would be useful to recapitulate
Kashmir’s history for the “Naïve” gentleman displaying total ignorance probably
as alleged by some with certain ulterior motives!

Before one delves into history of Kashmir and
Kashmiris, it would be interesting to understand the meaning of the words the
Nation and the Nation-State. According to Oxford dictionary, a Nation is, “A large body of people united by common
descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular state or
territory”. According to Wikipedia, “A nation is
a stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common
language, territory, economic life, ethnicity or psychological make-up
manifested in a common culture. A
nation is distinct from a people, and
is more abstract, and more overtly political than an ethnic group. It is a cultural-political community that has
become conscious of its autonomy, unity, and particular interests”.“It is a more precise term than
"country,"
but of the same general meaning, being that it is an ethnic nation with its
own land (thus "homeland") and government”.

Kashmir has existed
as a separate independent country ruled by various kings from the earliest
times. Kalhana’s Rajtarangini goes almost 5,000 years back to describe the
kingdom of Kashmir from the time of Gonanda I. The most important earliest
confirmation of Kashmir as an independent country is from Greek sources. It is the Ptolemy’s geography which has preserved
many of the references to Kashmir. He calls the region KASPEIRA. The importance
of this reference lies in the name of the territory as it is a phonetic
derivative between Kasmira, the ancient Sanskrit name of Kashmir, and the
present day Kashmir or Kashir.

After Greeks is the
mention of Kashmir in Chinese records. The earliest reference to Kashmir dates
back to A.D. 541. Kashmir is described as a country “enveloped on all sides
like a precious jewel by the snowy mountains, with a valley in the south which
leads up to it and serves as a gate of the Kingdom”. Ninety years after this first mention of
Kashmir in Chinese records, Hiuen Tsang visited the valley and stayed here as
an honoured guest for two years. He entered Kashmir through the valley of
Vitasta (present Jehlum). Kashmir which he calls Kia-shi-mi-lo described as a
country surrounded on all sides by very high mountains which have very narrow
and contracted passes for entry.

The next reference to
Kashmir in Chinese records relates to the Annals of Tang dynasty which mentions
the arrival of the first ambassador from Kashmir sent by Candrapida and then
another sent by Muktapida (Lalitaditya) of the Karakot dynasty of the
Rajtarangni. In fact, Muktapida had entered into a treaty of military alliance
with the rulers of Tang dynasty of China against Tibet which he subsequently
raided with a strong Kashmirian army. He failed to conquer it as his entire
army perished in the cold and high altitude deserts of Ladakh.

Kashmir also figures
in records of Muslim scholars. In spite of Kashmir’s natural seclusion, the
Arabic literature has very accurate and valuable account of Kashmir. This is
due to the research and critical appraisal of ALBERUNI who travelled with
Mahmud of Ghazni upto the borders of Kashmir at the fort of Lohkot (presently
Loran in Punch). This stronghold of the Kashmiri forces brought the invasion of
Mahmud to a standstill and he had to ultimately retreat from here due to the
onset of winter. Though this expedition failed to reach Kashmir but it gave
Alberuni ample opportunity to collect detailed information on Kashmir. He
refers to the pedestrian habits of Kashmiris and mentions that the nobles were
carried in palanquins on the shoulders of men. He describes Kashmiris anxiety
and care to protect their country. “They are particularly anxious about the
natural strength of their country, and therefore take always much care to keep
a strong hold upon the entrances and roads leading to it. In consequence it is
very difficult to have any commerce with them”.

Thus there is so much
historical evidence for the existence of Kashmir as a separate country from the
earliest times. Unfortunately, Kashmir lost its sovereignty to Mughals in
sixteenth century and since that time has been enslaved by one or the other
conqueror. However, in spite of all the hardships the Kashmiris have not
reconciled to their external slavery and the urge to regain their lost freedom
has been increasing with the passage of time. The movement to achieve this goal
is quite strong. Thus, in view of this entire history, as denigratingly
suggested by the former Finance Minister, the people are not barking up the
wrong tree! Incidentally, in the Indian sub-continent there is at present only
one country which qualifies to be called a Nation-State and that is Nepal.
Kashmir could be the second one!

The million dollar
question is will the Kashmiris be able to reclaim their Nationality as it
existed for thousands of years and will Kashmir ever be again a Nation State?
Will they be ever able to lead a life of honour and dignity? Well, keeping in
view the current regional political set up it seems impossible unless these
neighbours get tired of their unending mutual hostility or get decimated in a
destructive war! Howsoever, it would be an ideal solution if they agree to
declare Kashmir as a Nation State of the erstwhile times and make it a totally
neutral zone like Switzerland remained in the two world wars. This may seem a
utopian dream but sometimes such dreams happen to show the way. In the present
global context, Nation States have almost ceased to exist independently due to
the economic considerations. A typical example is the European Union. Even
though the individual countries do maintain their cultural individuality yet in
reality it has become one unit for all practical purposes. Can’t the countries
of our region do the same? Make the area a composite economic unit and keep
Kashmir as a Free Economic Zone with total political neutrality! Something on
these lines could be worked out through dialogue among all the stakeholders
including all the neighbouring countries. Ultimately, after getting exhausted
by mutual bickering and fights reducing their citizens to abject poverty, the
neighbouring countries may have no alternative but to do it! The other choice
would be total obliteration by a destructive nuclear war! Let us hope and pray
that good sense will prevail all round and Kashmiris are emancipated after
centuries of oppression!